Eternity of Us
by Reader4Lyfe
Summary: Bella is a vampire, turned against her will. She's kept a low profile, searching for her sire and avoiding the Volturi whose laws state she should be put to death. But there's a loophole and she finds it in the form of a depressed Edward whom she discovers was nearly murdered by the same sire. Can they survive before the Volturi find out or will the world end as they know it? E/B
1. Chapter 1

**Hiya folks! Thank you to those who stuck around and who are reviewing. And welcome to you newcomers! I appreciate you all :) So this is another story I started but didn't get a chance to finish. You may see some old but also new things so pay close attention. This is completely different from what I usually write, aka all vamp, so bear with me here. I'm in the market for a beta or two. PM if interested. Come join me on fb! Search reader4lyfe and you should find me. I'll be doing teasers and discussions and just having fun writing again. This story should update every Wednesday, but that's tentative. I'm hoping my momentum keeps up with all the plot bunnies. As usual, I don't own, but I do own my docs were said plot bunnies live and multiply. Any mistakes are mine.**

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**Prologue **

**Bella**

Early 1700s

Paris, France

I knew someone was out there. I knew it. I could feel them behind me. It made chills run down my spine. I hurried down the deserted street. It was dark, the evenly placed street lamps providing some light, but not enough to give me any sense of reassurance or safety.

This is what I get for working late and not accepting my father's offer to escort me home. I was the last to leave the small boutique shop, having to clean and lock up for the evening. It took me longer than I thought.

I sighed and crossed the street after looking both ways. The streets were quiet and empty, which was not unexpected as it was after 8pm.

Something broke behind me; a branch. _Merde_.

The chills in my spine intensified.

I hurried faster, grabbing a fistful of my dress so I wouldn't fall, as I was wont to do whether on cobblestone or thin air, it didn't matter.

Three more blocks and I would be home.

My breaths came faster, my skin had goose bumps, and my eyes couldn't focus on just one thing. They kept shifting all around whether to catch a glimpse of something or look for obstructions in my path, I wasn't sure. I just wanted to get home. Whoever was out there was following me.

I probably could've gone to the police but the station was on the other side of town and besides, what would I tell them? 'I have a feeling someone is following me because branches are breaking and chills are running up and down my spine.' They'd laugh and wonder why I was out alone at night and without an escort at that. That's how scandals are started. It was considered unladylike and disrespectful to my family.

I hurried faster.

Two more blocks.

_Zut_, why did these streets have to be so damn long? Swearing was also considered unladylike. I smirked to myself because I didn't really care. I didn't care what people thought of me but my father would kill me so I kept up the facade for him.

One more block.

Did I just hear footsteps? My hands started to shake. My heart beat faster. The something was closer now.

Oh God.

I could see my house, just a few more feet. There was a candle lit in the main window, which meant my father was waiting up for me. This would be one time I was grateful for him being overprotective.

I barely had time to scream before a hand came down over my mouth and an extremely hard and cold arm banded across my waist, jerking me back into what felt like a wall, knocking the wind out of me. Hard, cold lips pressed against my left ear and whispered roughly.

"Try anything and your life will end."

So I didn't.

My shawl fell from my shoulders and a shoe slipped off as he dragged me to the woods behind my house. When we hit the trees, we seemed to be flying because I could not make out my surroundings or feel the ground beneath my feet. My hair was whipping around me. Everything was dark and I was scared, no, terrified. I was hoping he wouldn't hurt me, or worse, kill me.

But that was impossible.

Because when the wind stopped whipping by me, time seemed to slow down and all I knew was pain.

No one could hear my screams.

No one came to help me.

And after he was done he whispered three words in my ear.

"Feel the burn."

And so I did.

And I wanted to die.


	2. Chapter 2

Hi all. As I said in my other post, FF is giving me a headache trying to upload something that wasn't garbled. Think I got the hang of it though. Any mistakes are mine. I dont own the characters but my docs though, pretty sure no one covets those lol

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**Chapter 1**

**Bella**

Running was my favorite thing to do. It was the only thing that calmed me down enough to keep my focus, not that I had much to focus on anymore. The feel of the wind in my hair and caressing my skin always relaxed me. Helped me think. The sky was a beautiful baby blue and every few minutes the sun would peek out from behind some clouds. I don't really remember what the warmth of it felt like and in some ways I missed it but in others I didn't.

I sighed.

More things I didn't want to think about, didn't want to dwell on. It was bad for me to do so. I'd lose my temper. And that wouldn't be good for anything within a five-mile radius. I learned that the hard way. My skin sparkled when the sun peeked out again. I looked at my hands as I ran, my vampire senses allowing me to dodge trees and leap over branches at the same time. They were the same as always, small and dainty. They sparkled like diamonds, light refracting off my skin into a plethora of rainbows.

I stopped running. The air settled around me. I took a deep breath and noticed the thirty different types of trees around me, the bugs under my feet, the family of bunnies just behind me and a million different other things. I could name them all but that'd take forever, something I had but could hardly see the pleasure in. Then, I smelled something else... something delicious.

I took off to the west, bursting through some foliage to see a few elk grazing by a small stream. They hadn't noticed me yet, which was good because I didn't feel like chasing after my food today. I took a few silent steps forward and pounced, wrapping my legs around the largest and clamping my teeth in its neck. The hot blood extinguished the fire in my throat only minimally. I took down two more and felt much better. Relieving the burn in my throat always served to make me feel better even when I didn't know I wasn't feeling good.

I brushed invisible dirt off my white dress and stood from where I was perched on a branch of a hundred-foot tall oak tree. I flipped and landed lightly on the balls of my feet on the ground. I grinned to myself. I was never a fan of heights before I was forced into this life and now I can't seem to keep myself on the ground.

"Bella."

His voice was soft, as if he was right in front of me even though we were about a mile apart. I straightened up and ran back to our cottage. I was there in less than 20 seconds. I opened the door and found Emmett shirtless, sprawled across the wooden floor looking at apartment magazines.

"Yes?" I answered him.

"Are we moving again?"

I sighed and shrugged my shoulders as I sat cross-legged next to him.

"I think we should. I mean, we don't do much of anything here and it's getting close to the summer time. That means campers, hikers, hunters and the like. We don't want a repeat of five years ago."

Emmett hummed and nodded.

Five years ago, Em and I were out hunting and we happened across three hikers who thought they'd died and gone to heaven when they spotted me. I hadn't been paying attention to my surroundings, my gift having become overwhelming for that split second, and wasn't able to hide before they saw me. They had cameras and managed to snap a picture of me. I ran before I could do any more damage and the men gave up and left when they couldn't find me after an hour or two. We let it play out for a few days and laid low but unfortunately they came back with company, hunting for me.

We devised a plan to scare them one evening at their campsite but problems arose when they got a little too drunk and one man tripped and fell into their fire. He died before the other men could get him out and they scattered, a few finding our house in the woods. Emmett followed them and knocked them out before they could discover anything and I rounded the others up, knocking them out as well and left them close to a road where they'd be seen and picked up in less than and hour. Emmett did some digging a few days later and found that the men tried to report what they saw but because they were so intoxicated no one believed them. Em had also destroyed the pictures. We even sent an anonymous donation to the man's family who died. Needless to say, we left soon after, destroying any and all evidence of our presence.

"So where do we go this time?" he asked bringing me out of my past musings.

"Well, I visited the local library today and found a few places. Seattle, Washington came up as well as a few other places . However, not too far from Seattle was a little town called Forks. It's small and it rarely has sunny days so we could stay there longer."

He hummed. "But what about people and hunting?"

"It's a woodsy town with plenty of wildlife and space. We could hunt without fear of being discovered and since the population is so small we won't have to worry about being found. Well, as long as we stay off trials and such. We could probably even go as far as Canada."

He thought for a minute and then grinned.

"Sounds like a plan."

I laughed. "Yes, my dear brother, it does."

His joy and euphoria washed through me. I breathed deeply and smiled. He was always so happy and carefree. He was hardly ever worried about anything. Sometimes I was jealous and other times I was grateful. He'd been my anchor for some, or most, of the extremely hard times.

I watched him as he grabbed another magazine, one full of jokes and start laughing when he thought some were funny and frowning when they weren't. I let my eyes lose focus and watched the air shimmer around him, watched the bright white color with a faint trace of red around the edges that always puzzled me pulsate from his head to his toes.

My power was quite unique and took me a long time to understand, figure out, and use. It was hard and taxing, which was saying something since vampires do not get tired. I still don't think I have it mastered or even figured out but it's not like I don't have the time to figure it out.

Emmett punched me in the leg, snapping me out of my day dreaming once again.

"You okay, B?"

I nodded and challenged him to a wrestling match since a thunderstorm was coming on. He grinned and hopped up, racing me out to the woods.

Within the next week we would be in our new home and new things would await us there.

~EoU~

It took us longer than a week to find a place to live. I was getting frustrated and a little worried because people were getting closer to our cottage. It was supposed to be empty and abandoned but we sort of fixed it up and soon we'd be found out.

Finally, we found something and just in the knick of time. A hunting party was closing in and that wouldn't bode well for anyone. The new house was out of the way and quite hidden from prying eyes but you could still reach it if you knew where the turnoff was. After living in the forest for a few years we needed to clean up and join with society again. We washed up in the nearest stream along with our clothes, demolished our small cottage, packed what little we had and ran to the closest city, which was Denver. From there, we took a plane to Seattle. We visited a car dealership and bought a jeep because Emmett had always wanted one and we needed some way to get to Forks. We bought a couple laptops from an Apple store and went on our way. It took about two hours to get to the house which was plenty of time to do a little online shopping, something I wasn't a fan of but saw the necessity.

"Wow," Em whistled.

The house was huge and white with a wrap around porch. It reminded me of the homes the 'royal', rich upperclassmen folk, had in the suburbs in old Paris when I was growing up. It didn't have a garage yet but I suspected Emmett would be adding that on in no time. He was bred to be a carpenter in his time. We parked the Jeep, grabbed our bags and headed in. We had the realtor deliver the keys to a P.O. box and we picked them on the way to prevent any more delays.

The first floor had the living room to the right and the dining room and kitchen to the left. In front of the front door were the stairs and behind those was the den. The second floor had four bedrooms and two bathrooms, evenly placed on either side of the stairs. The bedrooms were spacious and connected by a door like some hotel suites. Assorted closets and windows filled in some other areas. The third floor held a wide, open area of space, which I thought I'd turn into a library, get my books out of storage. There were two bedrooms and bathrooms on the opposite end of the stairs from the soon to be library and I had picked one of those.

Em had chosen the left side of the stairs on the second floor as his space. The right side we were going to leave empty for the time being. I'm not sure why we picked such a big house but something just felt right about it.

Prior to our arrival we had furniture bought, delivered, and set up. In the dining room, we had a table and four chairs mostly just for props and the kitchen was left alone. We furnished the living room with a couch, some love seats and a huge flat screen with a few gaming systems because Emmett just had to have his toys. I rolled my eyes at him and just laughed when he had that all set up. Our bedrooms contained a king sized bed, two large dressers, and a modern desk and chair set in a corner near a window. We were having some other essentials like towels, shower curtain, window curtains and such delivered shortly.

After a few weeks and a few forged documents, I found a job at a bookstore in Port Angeles, a small town bigger than Forks but smaller than Seattle, only an hour away. We took a short trip to Seattle to get myself a car because I refused to drive Em's behemoth of a jeep to work everyday. I decided on a nice sized blue SUV.

Sue Clearwater was the owner of the bookstore and she was very nice. Her son, Seth, had to be one of the kindest people I had ever met in all my years. Sue told me that she thinks he has a crush on me after about a month of working there. I laughed and waved her off.

Her daughter, Leah, hated my guts for some reason. Whenever she was around, she tried her hardest to make my life miserable. I asked her, once, what her problem was and she responded with a 'Fuck off, Bitch!' It made me angry and I laughed to myself when I realized she didn't know I could snap her neck with the flick of a wrist.

One time, I let my eyes lose focus as I stared at her and Seth while they stocked the shelves with a few new releases. The air around them was a complete opposite to each other. The air around Seth was white and I could sense a kind of peacefulness and calm to it, almost like Emmett's and knew that when those two met they'd be friends for a while. The only difference between those two was the color around the edges; Emmett's was red while Seth's was light blue. This added to my confusion even more. I filed it away for more thought later. The air around Leah, however, was dark red, an angry red with black around the edges. It made me wonder what she went through to get that color and to have that much hatred and rage and sorrow around her for her to be so mean and nasty. What did I do to her? What set her off? What happened to her?

I told Emmett about this and he said he wanted to meet Seth and that Leah was either heartbroken or someone died that was really close to her. I joked with him, asking him when he had become such a genius. He grinned and flipped me off, stating that he did, in fact, have brain cells. I knew this, of course; it was just so easy to mess with him sometimes.

Turns out he was right, about both things.

Sue told me their father, her husband, had died of a heart attack just six month ago and Leah's high school sweetheart left her…for her cousin.

Talk about pain.

I left her alone after that but she was still horrible. I vowed to figure out how to make her life better if I could.

Emmett, after much laziness, got a job at the docks in Port Angeles, loading and unloading cargo ships. He rather liked it because he could lift heavy things like it was a piece of paper and not many people would say anything because, well, he was huge.

The money we made went to savings or stocks after assorted bills. We didn't have much use for it, in fact, we didn't have much need to work, but we wanted to do something. Being civilized did require some sort of social interaction. We didn't mind so much either way. It gave us something to do other than sitting around and twiddling our thumbs. Emmett had a thing for numbers and advised me to stockpile my money just two years before the Great Depression happened. I felt bad for the people but after 200 years, you learn that people tend to bring things on themselves for greed and gluttony. Either way, I now had money in places even Emmett didn't know about and that was just fine because I wanted him to be okay if anything ever happened to me. While I knew he had his own money, he tended to defer to me when it came to handling such things, only offering his input when he felt it was needed.

A year passed and things had been going good for us in Forks. We kept ourselves busy, hunted every two weeks or so, and lived comfortably.

It wasn't long, though, before I started to get the feeling that something bad was about to happen…

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How we doing? Find me on fb reader4lyfe. Any suggestions on how to make banners?


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi folks. Originally I planned this story out in BPOV but when I started writing, others wanted a say. So you'll see things mostly from E/B but you'll get others as the story moves along. Also, someone wanted to know if this was an E/B story and yes, it is. I will fix that in the description as well. Thanks for pointing that out. Sorry this is late. If you're follow my fb page, I'd explained why this was late. I had to change some things around to make it work. So you'll get another chappie for the wait. Any mistakes are mine, the characters aren't.**

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**Chapter 2**

**Edward**

I wonder what would happen if I were to die. Would anyone care? Would anyone plan my funeral, put me in a nice casket, have a ceremony, and bury me six feet under?

Well, seeing as I don't have any family left, I don't think that's a possibility for me.

I sighed as I shut the hot water off then got out the shower, and wrapped a towel around myself. I ran a hand down the fogged up mirror. I looked at myself. My hair looked almost black since it was wet; my dull, green eyes were a little sunken and there were bags under them. My face had seen better days.

I don't sleep well. I hardly ever sleep, actually. When I do sleep, I have nightmares that have me waking up in the middle of the night, sweating and gasping for air. I never remember them the next morning and it frustrates me because I never know what they are, who they're about, or why I keep having them. Because of this, I look like the dead on a daily basis and people tend to stay away from me. During high school, kids gave me a wide berth because they thought I'd kick their ass, have a mental breakdown, die at any moment, or all three.

And that was before the nightmares.

After I got kicked out of foster care shortly after my eighteenth birthday, I walked the streets for a week before an old lady found me trying to keep warm under some old newspapers in a doorway that had a streetlight aimed down at me. It didn't provide much warmth but it was better than nothing. I stared at myself in the mirror remembering the night she found me.

~EoU~

_I wrapped my arms around myself as I walked down the empty street. It was getting colder and if I didn't find a place to get warm soon, I knew I was going to end up with hypothermia. Because I'd been out here for a week already, I knew of a few places but I walked too far this time and now I was lost._

_I got kicked out of the shelter I was in because they needed the bed and the space for a mother and her two toddlers. I didn't mind; I needed to move on anyways, but some older kids mugged me the next day__.__The bastards had taken the rest of my clothes and the thirty dollars I had managed to save after living with the Nomad family, before I moved into the shelter, kicked me out. I was actually glad to leave James and Victoria because they treated me like shit anyways. I was just another paycheck to them._

_The only things I had left were my social security card, my birth certificate, and my ID. The damn assholes didn't take that. _

_I shivered. It was getting colder. I could see my breath puff out in front of me. This was so not good. The thin long sleeve shirt I had on wasn't doing me much good. My hands started shaking. My limbs started to feel heavy and I was sure my skin was pale._

_Dammit. I needed to find some place to rest and warm up, fast._

_I scrounged up some old newspaper from a dumpster in an alley and huddled in the front doorway of what looked like an antique store because it had a skylight aimed down at the ground. At least that would provide some modicum of warmth until morning came, then I could try and find a new place to go. _

_Who was I kidding? There was nowhere for me to go. I was probably going to die out here. My teeth were chattering and the concrete made my ass numb. The temperature must've plateaued because I don't think it got any colder. Even if it did, though, I'd still catch hypothermia. I wasn't getting any warmer, only colder. My brain felt slow and I was sure if I tried to talk, my teeth would chatter too much._

_Suddenly, an old rusty red truck pulled up against the curb opposite me. I braced myself for fight or flight. I didn't know what was about to happen. It was too dark to see into the cab so I backed up as close to the door as I could, which in hindsight was not such a good idea because it left me with no way to escape. The driver got out and came around the cab towards me. My brain told me to run but my gut said to stay as I wondered why this person decided to stop. There was nothing around, no stores open, no people milling around. _

_I was alone. But perhaps that was exactly why they stopped. _

_Shit, I'm a dead man._

_A short, slight old woman came walking towards me. From the dim light, I could see she had reddish long hair and a slight limp in her walk. She walked right up to me._

"_What are you doing on these cold streets so late at night? It's not safe out here, ya know."_

_I looked at her like she was crazy, and maybe she was for stopping, getting out of her car, and walking up to a complete stranger. I could've been a murderer or something. She was no safer than I was at this moment. The only difference was, she was wearing a thick padded coat with gloves and a scarf and I was…not._

_I repeated her question to her with great effort. I was so fucking cold I wished death would come already. My teeth rattled._

_She nodded and said, "Well, I had feeling that someone needed my help, so I went for a drive."_

_My look of bewilderment made her laugh._

"_What's your name, son?"_

"_E-E-E-Edward," I stuttered._

_Somehow, this little old lady made me feel safe just by being in her presence. I didn't feel threatened by her. And she called me son, just like my dad used to do before…. I shook my head, not wanting to go down that path right now._

"_Well, Edward, I'm Mrs. Cope, but you can call me Shelly. It's cold out here. Get in the truck and I'll take you home, get you some food and a nice warm bed." She held out her hand and waited patiently while I decided if she was for real and whether or not it was possibly worth my life to get up and go with her. In the end, though, I would die either way. If she didn't kill me, I'd die on the streets. _

_I put my cold hand in her warm clothed one. She smiled gently and led me to her truck._

_I shook my head at her because she had to be crazy to pull a stunt like this, but I knew there was no arguing with the woman at this point so I got in the truck and a second later we were off to her home. I wondered what her husband would think of her bringing a random, gangly looking kid home after being about so late at night. She covered me in a soft worn blanket and cranked the heat. The old truck grunted with the effort but I was more than grateful._

_She ushered me into her white two story house maybe 20 minutes later and grabbed a blanket off the back of her couch, throwing it over my shoulders. It was so warm; I shuddered harshly. I hadn't realized how cold I really was until it was around my shoulders and my shivering stopped. The car ride helped but I shivered the entire ride over. Shelly led me to the living room and sat me in front a small heater that was on floor. _

_I scooted closer to it and sighed as the warmth spread through me. A few minutes later she handed me a cup of tea and a bowl of soup._

"_I-I-I don't know why you are doing this for me but thank you." I told her quietly. I may have lived in some bad places but I knew my manners._

_Shelly waved her hand as she took a seat next to me with her own cup of tea._

"_It's no problem, my dear."_

_After a few minutes, I couldn't help but notice that no one else was here and it didn't look like anyone else lived here but her._

"_Where's your husband?" I asked hesitantly._

_She sighed and placed her mug on the coffee table._

"_I'm sorry, Shelly, I didn't mean to pry." I tried to apologize. _

"_It's fine." She waved her hand dismissively. "He died a few years ago. Lung cancer."_

_I could hear the sadness in her voice and felt sorry for her._

"_I'm sorry," I whispered again._

"_You just finish eating that soup. It'll warm you up just right. You'll have to sleep on the couch tonight since the spare room I have isn't presentable but tomorrow we'll get you all straightened out."_

_She smiled at me, patting my back as she stood up and walked toward the stairs._

"_Shelly?"_

_She turned and looked at me. "Yes?"_

"_Thank you, ya know, for helping me. You won't regret it."_

_She smiled softly. "I know."_

~EoU~

I blew out a deep breath and backed away from the mirror, thinking about what else she had done for me.

Shelly literally helped me get on my feet. I finished high school and got a job working with her as her assistant in the front office at the high school. It was tedious work but she made it enjoyable with her comments about the 'young hussies' and players and about how stupid the principle was. Funny, I never noticed her working for the school beforehand, but then, I never noticed much outside of my own bubble. It was easier to not draw attention to myself.

She suggested that I might suffer from PTSD after a few months of living with her. When I asked her why she thought so she said her husband had it when he had gotten back from Vietnam so she knew the symptoms. She said she suspected because of my nightmares, trouble sleeping, my avoidance of the stove, and bad headaches whenever she asked questions about my past. After a while, she stopped asking but wanted me to go to therapy. I refused and I knew it made her sad but I just didn't want to relive all the shit I'd been through.

After working under her for a while, I managed to save up some money but it wasn't enough for me to go to college yet. Shelly couldn't afford to send me on her own and we didn't qualify for loans so I didn't think I'd ever go. But Shelly always believed things would work out. I was skeptical. Living the life I'd had, there was nothing good I believed in anymore, except Shelly.

Five years after Shelly found me, she died. She'd had leukemia. I cried, screamed, and yelled, nearly destroyed the house. She was the only one who ever really gave a shit about me and she died. I didn't blame her or ask God why He kept taking things from me; I just pretended not to feel anything. It was easier that way.

Her insurance covered everything and she left me the house and even enough to pay for college but I decided not to go. I couldn't do it without her and, frankly, I just didn't want to.

Two years later, I'm still working at the same high school, only I've taken her place. I live a simple life. I don't do much besides go to work and home. I go for a run on occasion. There was a trail behind the house that I used. It was private and there was no chance I'd be bothered by anyone.

I sighed and left the bathroom. I walked to my closet and pulled out some black slacks, a white button up, then to my dresser to get a pair of socks and a black tie. I dried off, pulled on some boxer briefs and the rest of my clothes.

I walked down stairs to the kitchen and brewed some coffee. I hadn't quite gotten over my fear of the kitchen but seeing as how I was living by myself I had no choice if I didn't want to starve. I made some eggs and bacon…using the microwave. Thank God for microwaveable breakfast bowls and youtube. I knew they weren't good for me in large quantities but I didn't care.

I glanced at the clock as I ate and my eyes widened. It was almost eight. Shit! I was running late. Principal Greene was going to kill me. I gulped down my black coffee and scarfed down the last of my food. It burned my tongue; it had just come out of the microwave a few minutes ago.

I grabbed my coat and keys and ran out of the house and into the pouring rain.

Oh, this was just fucking perfect. My day just kept getting better and better.

I got in my Volvo and drove to school. My mind was still wondering, remembering things it shouldn't be remembering. The pouring rain was like a heavy blanket hitting my windshield. I could barely see through it and it sounded loud in the confined space.

Oh, God.

Not now. Not now.

My breathing accelerated and my hands tightened on the wheel. My eyes started shifting around, looking for a way out. I could feel smoke in my lungs, the hot fire burning my hands. I could hear my dad yelling for my mom to come downstairs. My eyes closed.

I felt the car jerk and then spin around, skidding in the middle of the street…and straight into an oncoming truck. I hadn't realized my eyes were open until the bright lights of the truck blinded me. I felt the impact of the car hit me, my body jerked forward, my head hit the windshield and the seatbelt crushed my chest. I could barely breathe.

The horn of the truck went off and wouldn't stop.

I could feel the pressure building in my chest and figured a few things were broken. I tried to move but I couldn't. I think my legs were stuck and one of my arms was…I don't even know anymore.

There was so much pain…

It was almost as bad as waking up in that hospital and finding out my parents were dead.

Oh, God, I'm going to die.

I might as well accept it. There was nothing left for me anyways.

I closed my eyes again.

Knowing I may never open them again was almost peaceful.

And I relished it.

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	4. Chapter 4

**Hi folks. Here's your second chappie. Thanks for being patient. Any mistakes are mine. I dont own but I do own a ton of blue colored things.**

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**Chapter 3**

**Bella**

Not many people wanted to go out in the rain, even if it was the norm for this tiny town. Personally, I rather liked the way the rain felt on my skin, almost like a distant caress that promised more to come. Besides drinking blood, it might've been the closest thing to sexual pleasure I have ever had.

Sue called me last night to tell me not come in to work the following two days because of the weather; she didn't me to drive in the icy roads in a torrential downpour. So that left me free time. I decided to focus on finding my sire again. I've spent most of my life searching for him. I've been all over the world. I'd think I'd come close, only to lose the trail again completely and have to start back over from scratch. It was damn infuriating and I'd just about given up for good this time. But there was something nagging at me, something telling me I needed to find him.

In all my years, I had only come across a handful of other vampires who were either hostile or secretive. Covering my ass became a genius skill. My ability helped with that as well since I learned how to tell the difference between positive and negative auras. It was on one such occasion that I met some Amazonian sisters, one named Zafrina, who told me all about the Volturi and vampire law. She also helped me to discover some things about my ability, how to control it, use it both offensively and defensively, although I never had to do to this day.

Hours passed and my search led me nowhere. In my frustration, I threw my laptop across the room, where it hit the wall, split into two, and shattered the screen.

Shit. There goes another one. I'll order another when I calmed down.

I decided to go for a run in the rain to release the tension. I needed to feed, anyways. I had neglected to do it the night before because the feeling I kept getting that something bad was about to happen, crippled me at times. I could hardly move and when I did I could feel this pull, like a rope had wrapped itself around my abdomen and yanked me into an unknown direction.

Emmett was worried, his aura turning grey when he looked at me, and thought that I was going to die or something. When I told him that something similar happened right before I found him, though it was nowhere near as strong then, he calmed a little.

I had found Emmett in the woods not too far from the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in the late 1800s. I was really just passing through because I was hunting. He had been mauled by a bear and was barely breathing. I carried him to a rundown cabin and turned him. Three days later he grinned at me and said "I'm going to show that bear who the real fucking boss is."

He didn't even ask what he was, where he was, or anything. He barely remembered his name. The feeling I had then was just a slight pull and I realized that the closer I got to him the less I felt the pull. When I saw him I let my eyes lose focus and saw the pulsing white glow of the air around him while he was torn apart, bloody and half dead, as I did now. It was amazing that he managed to survive really.

I felt like I was meant to save him and I was immensely glad I did. The only time I ever saw a darkness drift through him was when I asked about how he got into a scuffle with a bear. He still has yet to tell me about his previous life and I don't press. Some things just don't need to be known or said. Although sometimes, I suspect he's been getting pieces or glimpses of his memory back and doesn't understand what it means.

This, though, was something entirely different.

It was…crippling. There was just no other way to put it. I was lucky to even get up this morning and make it outside. The pull dimmed for a few hours then it came back with a vengeance. It was nearly unbearable. I stumbled in my run, slamming into a tree and cracking it. I dropped to the ground, clutching my chest, gasping for breath I didn't need. I need to push through this… _something_ was happening.

Harnessing strength I didn't know I had, I stood, and bolted through a throng of trees, sprinting through cherubs and over a small spring. I scared the little critters and made the leaves and branches move with how fast I was going. I came upon a buck and took it down and sucked it dry in about three seconds. I did this four times before the pull felt less debilitating. It was still there, but it at least it was bearable.

I stopped, my breathing heavy even though it didn't need to be.

I let my eyes lose focus and everything around me began to glow. Everything that was green glowed blue, which meant it was calm and tranquil, everything thing that was brown glowed yellow, which meant life. The sky was white and I still couldn't figure out why but related it to Emmett's carefree and laid back nature. They were the same colors.

If there were any animals around they'd probably be green, which meant natural. It took me years to figure these things out. Even with Zafrina's help, there were many things about my ability I didn't understand.

I sighed.

The pull was lessening. The forest was quiet, too quiet. Sure, I knew it was because of me, but there was something else…

This overwhelming pull…

Then I heard it.

The crash.

Sinful and deadly, it almost hurt my ears and I cringed. I breathed deeply and the smell of gasoline and twisted metal and human blood overwhelmed my senses.

The pull…

I ran east and after about a minute or two I came to the only main road in Forks. The site before me made me want to close my eyes and wish I had never seen such a thing.

A head on collision. Almost always deadly.

The two cars were practically on top of each other. The cab of the pickup truck was crunched nearly beyond recognition. The driver was already dead, his blood dripping from various lacerations onto the ground, body contorted and twisted within the seats and metal. The windshields were completely shattered. The doors were mangled and gas was leaking somewhere. The smell of it burned my nose. There was also an underlying smell, a scent that immediately triggered a flight or fight instinct in me. I glanced around but didn't see anything or anyone around. This stretch of road was never really busy, especially when it rained. It's likely no one would come upon this accident for hours.

I peered in to what used to be a silver Volvo. The driver, I slowly realized, was still breathing, but just barely. His heart rate was so slow I almost didn't catch it.

Suddenly, I realized the pull was completely gone and I could breathe again. My eyes lost focus and the light coming off of this man almost blinded me.

I gasped.

_He_ was the pull.

He was the one I'd been searching for without knowing and I had feeling that if I pulled him out of the car and changed him, he wouldn't be the only one changing.

I pulled what was left of the mangled driver's side door back, cringing at the sight before me. His legs were crushed by the steering wheel; the seat belt had cracked his ribcage, piercing a lung since his breathing was so shallow. It looked like he had a broken arm and wrist, with a fractured collarbone. No matter how careful I was, he would be in pain the minute I moved him.

Carefully, I cracked the steering wheel, pulling it up and off of him. I tore the seatbelt, yanking it from the seat. He groaned softly, but didn't open his eyes. The lacerations all over his face were gruesome but his blood didn't register the need to feed in me. _Strange._ I focused on getting him out of here. I didn't have much time. I reached under him, my arms going under his legs and across his back. I pulled him, as gently as I could, from the seat, cringing again at his whimpers. While I don't think he realized he was being moved or that he was still alive, I didn't want to abuse that knowledge. Once I had a good grip on him, I took off back the way I came and not five seconds later; the cars blew up in flames, the fumes from the gas having ignited from the sparks coming from the truck.

Not even the pouring rain could put that fire out.

~EoU~

I gently laid his body on the bed in the spare room that Em and I had never gotten around to doing anything with. He was cold to the touch, and very pale. He had a lot of blood loss. He had nasty gashes across his legs and I knew part of that was my fault when I pulled him out of the car. I put my ear to his chest. His heartbeat was as slow and faint as his breathing. I knew if I didn't change him soon, he was going to die.

I couldn't let that happen.

I bit his neck, wrists, and ankles. I sealed them with my tongue, groaning at the taste of his blood. While it hadn't tempted me when I was pulling him from the car, I was a little more level headed now and had registered the temptation in the back of my mind but I refused to act on it. His body jerked and the veins in his neck strained. His eyes popped open, looked directly into mine and then shut again quickly. In that one look, I could see all the pain he had suffered and something else I couldn't put my finger on.

I breathed deeply. His scent filled my nose, burned my throat, and ignited something deep inside me that I had never felt before.

It both scared and intrigued me.

I thought about what I was going to do when he woke up, what I was going to tell Emmett when he got home, what the Volturi was going to do…

I shuddered. They would not be happy. I just broke a few of their laws and I was going to pay for it. The only question was when.

They would come after me and him and even Emmett for that matter just because he was living with me. My life just got a whole lot more complicated and whether or not I knew what I was getting myself into, I knew it had to be worth it.

Because if he wasn't…

I was going to die.

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	5. Chapter 5

**Hi folks! Thank you to everyone who has followed, favorited, reviewed, and shared my story. It all gives me warm and fuzzy feelings in my dark times. **

**To my guest reviewer: Please remember this is my plot and story. The only thing canon are the couples, well, most of them. Things will be revealed as the story moves along but I will say that the Volturi are a bit different here than in the original and so are their laws. Again things will be revealed in due time. Also, because Bella has spent most of her vampire life either alone or with Emmett, she is not aware of some of the laws she should know, nor is she aware of mates or coven bonds. She is discovering a whole new life. We're just along for the ride.**

**Anyways, I dont own anything but slightly messy docs and a million plot bunnies.**

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**Chapter 4**

**Edward**

Fuck!

I feel like I'm being torn apart.

My insides are burning!

My outsides are burning!

_Everything_ is burning.

I want to open up my mouth and scream out in agony. I want to die. I want this to go away. I can't take it.

I can't, can't, can't, _can't_.

But my mouth won't move, neither will the rest of me.

Nothing but the burn was in the forefront of my brain.

A sudden thought…

Is this how my parents died? The people at the hospital said they died of smoke inhalation but they also had some burns on their bodies. I wonder if they felt this pain, if they thought about me in their last moments, if they tried to get out. I could remember my daddy yelling for mommy to come downstairs. I remembered him telling me to run outside and wait for the firefighters before he dashed back up the stairs.

I ran and they came but my daddy never came out the house, not even after the firefighters went in and tried to hurry and put out the fire. There was so much smoke and bright lights and so, so, so much noise. There were people yelling and sirens and heat. So much heat.

Oh, God.

So much heat.

My fingers and toes and arms and legs…I could feel the fire licking my veins. Following the blood all over my body. I wanted to die. Feeling this was worse than watching my house burn down and losing my parents. It was worse than going to Shelly's funeral. It was worse than... oh hell, it was just _worse_.

I needed a distraction so I wouldn't scream or thrash or peel my skin off. Not that I was sure I could do any of that but it felt better thinking that I could rather than thinking I was as useless as a rusty old nail.

I decided to remember the good things that happened to me.

I remember when dad used to take me to the park every Saturday morning and we'd play football. Mom used to make us a big dinner with her special sweet tea and we'd eat as a family. I remember taking a trip to Seattle once and seeing the Space Needle for the first time.

I remember the cookies mom made for me on my first day of kindergarten. I was so nervous that day but she said everything would be fine and it was. I had a nice teacher and I met a few other kids who were nice to me. I colored and took a nap and painted a picture for mom. She put it on the refrigerator when I got home. I was so proud. And dad was too. He had a copy of the picture I drew made and framed and put it in his office so he could look at it every day when he went to work.

I remember when Shelly first took me shopping before school started up again and she got me working at the school with her. We went to Port Angeles and we were in the men's underwear section. It was embarrassing when she held up a pair of underwear to my behind after doing that before with a pair of pants. I must've blushed fifty shades of red but secretly enjoyed the way she kept fawning all over me.

Dammit. I'm out of happy memories.

Fuck!

Was this burn ever going to _end_?

Suddenly, I could feel the fire change. It left my fingers and my toes, then my hands and feet.

I'm not sure how much time had passed; it felt like years and somehow I just now realized that my brain had been counting the seconds while I was thinking about my life.

174809 seconds had passed.

Something big was happening; something was changing me.

I was happy the fire was leaving parts of my body but it seemed like it was all gathering around in my chest, in my heart, which beat rapidly. It fucking hurt and I could feel my hands ball up into fists and my toes curl.

I decided not to think about anything anymore. I shut my brain down, or tried to because even though my thoughts were quiet there were other…voices, sounds, that I knew did not belong to me.

What hell is wrong with me?

201097 seconds.

There was a humming noise. It was soft and comforting and I almost felt like it was lulling me to sleep. I remembered how my mother would sing to me when there were really bad thunderstorms and I couldn't sleep. I wanted to know who was humming or if it was just a figment of my imagination but then I could hear other things, far away things, like animals and cars and…music? But this sounded like it was in my head.

Oh great, I'm burning to death but now I'm hearing voices.

Fuck, I'm going crazy.

The voices became louder and heavier. One was a man's voice. He sounded right next to me but I had a feeling no one was really there.

_Why did she do this? What is her problem? She knows she will have to pay for this. I remember the last time she did this. To save me. She can't. Not again. _

The voice stopped and then other noises and voices joined it. They were all talking at once and I couldn't focus on just one. I couldn't concentrate. Why was there so much noise in my head?

The fire left my head and neck and shot to my heart. My chest shot up. I couldn't help but let out a scream as my heart beat frantically, trying to keep pumping blood, trying to keep me alive. It hurt so much. It was almost worse than the fire. It was so centralized that I clenched my hands and teeth so hard my bones creaked.

230577 seconds.

I thought it would never end.

But my heart lost the battle. It stopped beating. I dropped back down and took a deep breath, smelling things I couldn't describe.

I could hear two people breathing and animals and cars and the wind against a wall.

Was I dead? Was I in heaven or hell? What happened to me?

I guess there was only one way to find out.

260001 seconds.

I opened my eyes.

**~EoU~**

**Bella**

I watched as the man changed. A few hours more and he would already be healing.

Emmett came bursting through the door a few hours after I brought him in and immediately dropped his defensive stance. He could smell the blood and venom a mile away so I knew he had to figure something was up.

"Bella? What the hell is going on?"

I slowly tore my gaze away from the man on the bed to look up at Em. His golden eyes were curious but worried and maybe a little mad. Once he caught sight of the man on the bed, his eyes slowly widened in pained realization.

"Bella, you didn't… tell me you didn't." Em begged.

The look on my face must've told him I did. Either way, it was obvious.

He ran his hands through his short curly hair and let a big gust of air.

"Bells, why? You know what will happen. The Volturi will come after you. Just like they did when you changed me. You have nothing to bargain with this time, Bella. They will kill us all."

Nothing he was saying was new to me but that didn't make it any easier to hear.

"Don't you think I know that! I _had_ to. I couldn't leave him there. Em, it was the pull. _He_ was the pull. It was like a breath of fresh air. The vice wrapped around my gut had finally loosened, like I can finally relax now. It's almost like I found a piece of myself I had no clue was missing. I just-" I broke off, taking a deep unneeded breath.

I steadied myself, focusing a pleading look at Emmett. He stood in front of me, arms crossed against his massive chest, his face a twisted in worry and anger.

"Emmett, you know me. I wouldn't have done this if I thought I had another choice. They won't know about it for a while yet as long as we don't bring attention to ourselves. Remember how long it was before they found out about you?" I tried to reason with him.

"Yes, five years and three months. But that doesn't mean it will take that long again." He said shortly, his brow furrowed. "They know about you and your power. They've probably been keeping tabs on us ever since." Emmet was exasperated. He started pacing, huffing and puffing out his frustration.

"Emmett, please. I couldn't…can't let him die. I need him."

I wasn't sure what it was about him but I knew I needed him. I also needed time to figure out what the hell I was going to do and I had it, for now.

Emmett stopped pacing, looked from me to the man and back a couple of times before he sighed and shook his head. He came toward me, wrapped his large arms around me, and told me that he loved me and that he'd help me any way he could. I hugged him hard and told him I loved him too and thanked him. He left a few minutes later saying that he would get some clothes to fit the man and some other stuff.

I was glad that he would help me, despite his opposition. We were family, albeit a very small one. We were brother and sister and very loyal to each other. Once again I was immensely glad I found him despite the problems it caused. I wasn't even sure I'd make this far without him to lean on.

The first hundred years alone was...rough. I watched my entire family die. My parents...my father...

I sighed. The past was the past. It never did me any good to focus on it.

I looked down at the man, wishing I knew his name so I'd stop calling him 'the man' in my head all the time.

I stayed at his bedside for two days. His skin got paler, his wounds healed. I could see and hear his broken legs snapping back into place, hear his arm cracking, his collar bone shifting. I flinched, knowing it probably hurt like hell but he likely would not have felt anything except the venom scorching his veins.

I barely moved the majority of the time, only when Emmett came in to change his clothes and the bedding after cleaning him up, did I leave the room. The second he was done, I was by the bedside again. I let my eyes lose focus for six hours straight and saw the green aura shimmer around his body. It was a peculiar shade of green, like jade, but lighter and it sometimes changed its hue. I had never seen this color before and I was anxious to learn what it meant. Most of the time a person's color is connected to how they are feeling but some people just had a color that was all them. Emmett was always white until his emotions changed. Zafrina was always brown. Any other vampire's color I had met over the years always changed. Very few humans I've met have had colors that stay the same either.

My ability was a unique and complicated one.

I began to hum a tune to help me relax and unfurl my frustrations. Sometimes my ability caused me more problems than I cared to admit. 300 years and I wasn't sure I'd ever completely figure out my ability.

The pull I felt from the man was completely gone. It left the moment I had him in my arms.

_Strange._ I wonder what that means...

The minor pull I felt that led me to Emmett felt different, like a familial bond that needed to be found and connected otherwise it would just flap around in the wind. Even after I found Emmet I still felt like there was something missing but I could not figure out what it was.

Finding the man both helped to ease some of the familial bond, like a piece fitting into place, while also completing a part of me that I had no clue I was missing. What the hell does all this mean? Now I had way more questions than answers and nowhere to turn.

I shook my head in further frustration. My humming grew louder as I fought to distract myself.

Now that Emmett knew what I had done, I had a feeling he was going to want to relocate immediately but I just couldn't do that. The man was going to be a newborn vampire. He would be hungry and rabid when he awoke and this would be the perfect place for him to get accustomed to his new life. We could keep him isolated and fed with the wildlife nearby. We could even go further north to Canada to hunt if need be. Since we didn't necessarily need to leave the house, we could make this work. Em and I could leave our jobs and work with the man to ease his transition.

I only hoped he didn't destroy the house when he woke up. I was rather partial to it already.

I lost track of time while I stared at him and suddenly I saw his hands clench into fists and his toes curl. Not an hour later his chest popped up, the veins in his neck and arms straining and pulsing. His entire body clenched hard like one big muscle having a horrible cramp. His heart beat frantically, loudly, before it stopped and he dropped motionlessly onto the bed. My ears rang a little from the scream he let out and I heard Emmett dart upstairs from playing video games in the living room to come stand behind me.

He was prepared to jump in front of me should the man attack even though he knew I could handle myself fairly well.

The man tensed for a second and then took in a deep breath as if breathing in his surroundings. Em and I stopped breathing.

The man opened his eyes and shot up on the bed. His eyes were blood red and I flinched even though I knew they'd be that way. I never liked the blood red color. It always scared me. To me it was something heinous, vile, evil. Everything I wasn't.

Emmett had moved to stand in front of me when the man leapt from the bed but I placed a hand on his arm to stay him.

The man gasped as he gazed at us then fired off questions.

"Where am I? Who are you? What the fuck did you do to me? What's going on? Why is it so loud in here? And why the hell does my throat burn?" He asked accusingly, eyes glaring, his hands grasping at his throat.

His voice was so…sensual and manly. I shook visibly and had to take a deep breath in, which wasn't a good idea. A new scent assaulted my senses, one of driftwood and sand and man. I was so distracted by it that Emmett placed a hand on my should and glanced at me, worried but I shook my head at him. I let my eyes lose focus and asked the man some questions of my own.

"What's your name?" I inquired.

He hesitated for a second before answering. "Edward Cullen."

"Do you remember what happened to you?" I asked him calmly.

His brows furrowed and the aura around him went from hunter green to jade.

"I…I was in my car…heading to work…the rain was coming down in sheets. Um…I panicked…I couldn't breathe and then…nothing. I…where am I?" He was confused and started to panic again. I knew I needed to calm him down as quickly as I could or the shirt he had unknowingly shredded would be the least of my worries.

"You're at my home. My name is Bella and this is my brother, Emmett. We won't hurt you, Edward. " I paused. "I just saved your life."

A million emotions flitted across Edward's face and he frowned hard, his eyes glancing around the room, before settling on me again.

"What? How? Wait, I'm dead, right? I mean, you're too beautiful for me not to be dead and he's too huge to be real…" He trailed off as his gaze shifted between us.

Emmett and I burst out laughing, which in hindsight wasn't the best thing to do in this situation.

Edward's aura changed from jade to deep-sea weed green and I knew he was about to pop. All the confusion and frustration and hunger and unease made him burst. I was hoping it'd be a few hours before that happened so he wouldn't destroy the house but it wasn't and Em was a fraction of a second too late in blocking him from roaring and lunging straight at me.

"_NO!"_

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	6. Chapter 6

**Hi folks! Sorry this late. I'm having a tough time of things right now. Thanks for sticking with me. Any mistakes are mine. I dont own.**

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**Chapter 5**

**Bella**

I flinched as I felt his body connect with mine. While the impact didn't hurt, the shock was more than enough. Damn but Edward moved faster than anything I'd ever seen; I almost didn't catch it. We flew back about 50ft into a large armoire, shattering it into a hundred pieces. Even though Emmett was right next to me, he wasn't fast enough to intercept Edward before he hit me. His pained scream of _no_ actually hurt my ears.

But Edward didn't actually attack me. He didn't know his speed or strength which is why we flew back so far. But while I was trying to pick myself up off the floor, Edward had turned his back to me and glaring at Emmett as if he was the one knocked into and armoire and ruined my floors. Emmett face morphed from fear and pain to confusion as Edward bared his teeth at him.

What the hell was going on?

Edward hissed then turned to me and that's when Emmett recovered.

I blinked and looked up in time to Emmett grip and twist Edward's arms behind his back and pull him into a headlock. The maneuver was quick and swift. If Edward were human, his arms would be broken. I stood up, groaning and brushing debris from my clothes before looking behind me. The armoire was completely demolished. I groaned again. This was why I was hoping he'd snap _outside_ the house. Did I mention there was a nice sized dent in the floor?

A loud growling sound pulled me from my destroyed furniture and my eyes snapped up to Edward's. His confusion, shock, fear, anger, was all plain as day. His teeth were bared as he tried, uselessly, to get out of Emmett's hold. The only person to ever do that was me and that took years of practice and training. Why Edward went for me instead of Emmett baffled me? Because of Emmett's size he was almost always perceived as a threat before he even opened his mouth. It almost seemed like he was protecting me from Emmett which was ridiculous.

I stared at Emmet and a struggling Edward. Suddenly, I knew just what to do to calm him down.

I walked right up Edward, ignoring Emmett's warnings, and placed my hands on his face. I gazed into his eyes. A few seconds passed before his struggling calmed and his mouth closed. His aura went from deep sea green to the light forest green. My touch calmed him just like his calmed me. I was grateful otherwise we'd really have some problems.

But what the fuck did that mean?

Emmett loosened his hold on Edward's arm but he didn't let him go just yet.

"Edward, you need to calm down. Breathe. Listen to me." I told him. I could see in his eyes that he was trying but I knew he wouldn't completely calm down without feeding. Edward's chest moved up and down while he steadied his breathing. His aura turned lighter, whiter.

"Em, let him go."

"Bella-"

"Do it."

Emmett slowly let his arms go and Edward let them drop to his sides. I kept my hands on his face so he would stay focused on me.

"Wh…what am I?" Edward whispered.

"You are a vampire." I said as softly as I could.

His eyebrows pulled together in the middle of his forehead as he frowned hard, not quite comprehending the words.

"C'mon, I'll explain more after you've hunted. Your throat burns, yes?"

Edward's hands shot to his throat and he nodded frantically. I smiled and glanced at Emmett who had to crack a smile despite moving to grap at Edward again when his hands shot up. Emmett and I both remembered how he was when he first hunted. He didn't even wait for me to tell him how to do it, he just hopped out the window and ate the first thing he came across, a black bear, and those have been his favorite ever since.

"Emmett, can you clean this up? We'll back in a little while." I nodded toward the debris.

"You sure, Bella?"

I nodded and grabbed one of Edward's hands. I led him to the window a split second after noticing the shock that went through my hand and up my arm. Edward glanced at me, curious, but I just nodded towards the window. I opened it and hopped out; he followed a half second later.

I took off running north, jumping over the stream behind the house and kept going. Edward caught up with me about five seconds later and my eyes widened at how fast he was, even with remnants of his own blood in his system, I hadn't met a vamp that was ever faster than me.

We stopped in a meadow after about five minutes of running.

"Wow, I could see everything as I went past it. I could hear everything. So much noise…" He said. His eyes were wide as he looked around. I knew he could see the millions of colors in the trees and the dirt. He could see the kaleidoscope of colors from the sun and feel the wind on his skin.

"Edward," I said softly.

He looked at me. He blinked a few times as if he was blinded.

"You…are so beautiful. Are you sure I'm not dead?"

I laughed and he seems mystified. If I could blush, I would be doing so right now.

"Technically, you are dead. You don't need to breathe, your heart doesn't beat, and blood doesn't pulse through your veins. Venom does now, although your blood is still metabilizing. As you realized on the way here, your senses have been…amplified. You can see, hear, smell, taste, feel everything so much stronger than when you were human and right now, you need to use those senses to hunt, to feed…on animals only."

I gave him a few moments to digest that information. He continued to look around at things, taking short breaths as he went. Suddenly, Edward took a deep breath and then he was gone from my sight. Damn, he was fast. I breathed in deeply as well and caught the scent of some buck a few hundred yards to my right. I took off, being careful not to spook them, as we were predators, and we wanted no one to steal what was ours. I took a perch high up in a tree and watched Edward do his thing. That thought that we were, in fact, predators, sent a sudden jolt through my body and I thought about Edward and the pull. I watched him take down two bucks grazing and suddenly found that it was actually kind of…sexy.

I shook my head. This was ridiculous.

I took down a few deer because I was a little hungry and well, they were there. I showed Edward how to bury the carcasses and then led him to a stream where he could clean off his face and hands. No one was ever really neat their first time out. At least his clothes survived, somewhat. His shirt was a bit torn on one side. We took a seat on a rather larger boulder on the edge of the stream. To this point, he avoided looking me in the eye and while I wanted to ask him why, I didn't want to risk setting him off again.

After a few minutes of silence, I asked a question that had been bothering me ever since we left the house.

"Why did you attack me? Usually newborns go for the first perceived threat, and in this case, that would have been Emmett."

He snorted. "Man, that guy is huge. Can vampires take steroids?"

I laughed and shook my head.

"No, Emmett was always huge, even when I first found him."

He sighed and looked to the sky. It was a few minutes before he spoke again.

"Well, you were the closest one to me and you were quiet. He was yelling. I guess I wanted the noise to stop."

"What do you mean, quiet? Emmett hadn't said a word until you came at me."

"I'm not crazy, am I? I can hear voices in my head, well, sort of; I mean…ugh! I don't know!" He grabbed at his hair and started rocking back and forth. He slammed a hand down on the boulder, causing it to shake and crack. A chunk broke off under his hand.

I scooted closer to him and placed my hands on his back, ignoring the jolt that went through me again, and rubbed his back, whispering for him to calm down. Some time later he ended up with his head in my lap and one of his hands gripping mine. His eyes were closed and there was a light purring sound coming from his throat as I ran my fingers through his soft hair, occasionally scratching his scalp. He seemed to like that as his purring grew louder. I didn't know vampires could pur. The vibrations felt good against my leg, soothing even.

I'm not sure how we got so close, how or why this felt so comfortable and so right. So many questions were running around in my head but I didn't want to speak them out loud yet, for fear that he would burst again.

I sighed.

"It's quiet. In my head, I mean." He whispered.

"I still don't understand."

He opened his eyes and looked up at me. I gasped.

"What?!" He said, scared.

"You...your...your eyes..." I stuttered.

Edward's hand went to his eyes as if he could feel what was wrong.

"They're green!"

"Well, yeah, I was born with green eyes." He said on a relieved chuckle.

"Edward, when a person becomes a vampire, they pretty much lose every human trait they had. The eyes turn red because of the blood and black when hungry."

He thought about that, then said, "But your eyes are golden."

"Right, because I feed from animals. Those who feed from humans have red eyes."

"Ah, okay." He nodded. Then asked, "Does everyone hear voices?"

I blinked at him.

"What?" I stared at him.

He paused, then went on to say; "When I was…burning…I heard a voices."

"Of course, you did. Your hearing was amplified by then. Emmett and I did talk while you were out of it." He was shaking his head before I even finished speaking.

"No, no, I mean, in my head, like talking inside my head. I thought I was crazy. Am I crazy?" He asked me again.

I shook my head. "You aren't crazy... but I think you have a power."

His eyebrows rose. "A power?"

"Mhmm. Sometimes when a person is changed something comes with them that is amplified and expanded. In your case, it seems, you can read minds."

"What?"

Edward's green eyes widened. His eyebrows nearly disappeared into his hairline. I almost laughed.

"Yes, you can read minds. I've only heard of one other vampire that has the power but it works different for him. He needs touch. You don't, it seems, just proximity."

"But I still can't hear you and I'm right next to you." He explained.

I frowned. I thought about when I touched his face, his hand, his back, his skin. He always calmed down when I touched him. I wonder...

I let my eyes lose focus as I looked at him, taking note that his aura now matching his eyes. I reached a hand out slowly, watching as his eyes followed the motion. When my hand made contact with his cheek, we both gasped.

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**How we doin? I know this was kinda short. The next one will be longer. Find me on fb reader4lyfe.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi folks! Sorry, I've been MIA. I'm going through a lot and am having a difficult time handling it. So that's put me behind. I'm catching up though. Any mistakes are mine. No copy write infringement intended.**

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**Chapter 6**

**Bella**

When we got back to the house, Emmett had fixed the floor and was turning the remains of the armoire into what looked like a set of two large chests in the garage. Edward looked a little sheepish and apologetic when he saw that and apologized profusely. Emmett just waved him off, told him it was no big deal and that he'd just order another armoire if I wanted. He side eyed me as I walked past and I mouthed later to him. Something was going on that was bigger than us and I needed to work out a game plan. Emmett frowned and shook head, turning back to the chests.

I told Edward we would need go to his home and get some of his belongings and all his legal documents. We had to make it so he'd disappear. This process was not going to be an easy one. These days it was harder to make people disappear because of technology and social security. We would have to be careful. The accident helped with some of it but there were still some loose ends to tie up. He didn't seem surprised or upset, which I thought was both good and bad. Anyone who has to suddenly give up their life for one of near solitude and constant relocation has to have some kind of negative emotion about it. But Edward was different. It was almost like he was waiting to die. And I wasn't sure if I should be worried about that or not.

What happened in his short life that made him want to give in so completely?

Over the next couple of weeks, Emmett and I worked with Edward on controlling his blood lust. It was actually easier than we thought. While his thirst was there, it wasn't overwhelming and uncontrollable. Edward described it as more of an urge to eat like when he was human. If you're hungry, eat, if not, it's a not a big deal. Because Edward didn't much like being around people even when he was human apparently, I think that that carried over to his vamp side. He didn't need people so it sort of made sense that he wouldn't need to have the urge to feed from them to sustain himself. He was really good at hunting and we found his favorite was mountain lion when we took a short trip to Canada. I loved hunting with him. He was so sensuous and sleek and lithe; it almost made me envious. I wasn't anywhere near as neat or clean my first six months. I told him so once and I knew that if he could blush he would have. The man didn't know how to take a compliment which I thought was rather adorable.

Edward was very tightlipped about his past. When we went to his home, he requested that he go in on his own. Em and I looked at each other but nodded, taking seats on the front steps. It was a nice two story home that could've used some upgrades and a coat of paint. I picked up his scent and an older one, long dead. Edward had said that the homeowner, Mrs. Cope, had saved him some years ago and left him the house when she died. He looked so heartbroken and sad that I decided not to ask for more details on his family, or lack thereof. If there was one thing I knew, it was that his life hadn't been a easy one.

Because Emmett and I took some personal time from our jobs, six weeks, we would have to get back to our regular routines if we wanted to keep up our facade. Because of Edward's abilities, we felt it was okay to leave him alone. He knew the risks if he exposed himself and while he didn't seem too broken up about dying, he didn't seem to want to die twice. I let him have free reign over my laptop and order anything he wanted to try and settle himself in our home. He'd made our spare room into his own space and had seemed to be learning things at a good pace. Life, slowly went back to normal for us.

I decided not to tell Edward about the Volturi and their rules. At least not yet. I didn't want to overwhelm him since I wasn't sure how he would take the information. While he was being an exceptional new born, he was still a newborn and therefore prone to violent outbursts at times. Vampirism came with enhanced emotions, which could sometimes be unpredictable. Despite Edward not having one since he first woke up, I knew there had to be one coming soon.

And I was actually scared of how vicious that outburst would be.

Edward didn't talk much. After the visit to his old home, he barely spoke anymore. I knew he enjoyed the quiet when we weren't home because even though he couldn't hear me, he could hear Emmett and he was always loud. Emmett had been working on lowering his internal voice so as not bother him. I appreciated that Em put work into doing it despite his earlier objections to Edward's turning. Emmett was still warming to Edward but he didn't actively work to make his life miserable. Edward seemed grateful, too. At least, it showed when I was around. While he didn't talk much, he also avoided touching me and wouldn't answer when I asked why. Something else was going on with him and I couldn't figure out what. The pull I felt for him was gone when we were near each other, but when I left for work, the further I got away from him, the pull returned stronger, painful. As soon as I came back, it would vanish. I still didn't know what that meant, and I couldn't ask Edward because I knew he wouldn't answer me. I had noticed in Canada when I took off after a rather large buck, the pull was different but when I got back, he was acting weirder than usual. Emmett didn't know what was wrong either, so we were helpless as to how to fix what was going on. The pull was just confusing everything.

I wish he would talk to me.

Did he feel the same thing I did? Was it just as painful for him? What the hell did all this mean?

When we got back to the house the first day of his first hunt, we hadn't spoken about what happened when I touched him while my power was being invoked. It was amazing yet terrifying. I had no way to explain it. I never even told Emmett what happened for fear that he would think we were crazy, and to prove he was right and I shouldn't have saved Edward, kill him. Emmett would go through great lengths to protect me, which I never understood but usually just let him be.

Months passed, and there was no sign of the Volturi, which was a good thing. I still needed more time to create a workable story to give them but Emmett and I had yet to come up with something believable. How could I explain the appearance of another vampire when I promised not to be involved in any other turnings as long as I lived.

I was beginning to think I was just plain fucked, as Emmett would say.

I sighed as I made the turnoff towards the house. Today was a long day at work. We got slammed from students coming in from the local technical college buying books for the new semester. Seth was out sick and Sue was out of town at a convention so Leah and I held down the fort. She was actually doing better, having met a man named Sam, who seemed to level her out a little. She still wasn't close to me, and that was fine, but it made working alone with her today easier. I'd noticed, lately, that people's emotions were effecting me, leaking through their auras. I could actually feel the tenor of Leah's emotions throughout the day, and the students when they came within 10 ft of me. This was new and I didn't know why it was happening or how to control it. It wore me out though. I actually felt tired. I was ready to just head to my room and pass out if I could.

I frowned as I pulled up to the house. There was a large black SUV out front. Emmett would've told me if he bought another new car. I knew he was home because the garage was open. That was he workspace and with the door garage open he utilize more space, depsite how large the garage already was. Edward didn't have a car nor did he drive. And he would've told me if he bought a car too. No one else knew where we lived so that could mean one of two things; the Volturi were here or someone saw something they weren't supposed to see.

I pulled up next to the SUV and parked. Heading to the front door, a group of familiar scents both eased my concern and increased my worry. Why would they be here?

**~EoU~**

**Edward**

Being a vampire was both nothing like being human and everything like being human. My senses were all the same, although extremely amplified. I didn't sleep which wasn't new to me. I didn't need to eat, also not new to me. But I could hear the voices in my head, drink the blood of animals, feel strange pulls to other vampires, well just one vampire. That definitely wasn't human. I sometimes wondered if I couldn't even get being a vampire right. God knows my humanity was fucked up.

I sighed as I leaned back against my headboard. These past few months have been the best and worst of my life. I got a chance to start over but had no clue how or what to do with myself. I couldn't exactly leave the house and go prancing around the neighborhood since I was officially declared dead. The authorities found my mangled and burned to a crisp car. The fire had burned long and hot despite the light rain and was a charred mess. The other driver was a melted mass of flesh, cloth, and bones. Everything was such a mess and because the town was so small, they hadn't the resources to bother with a thorough autopsy or check for every single minute detail. I was pretty much able to die quickly and quietly. Funny, that. I've lived my life as an abused zombie. I've wished for death before. I was able to die, but not die in the span of a week. How's that for irony.

The hardest part part, I mean aside from turing, was going back to my house. It was the last piece of Shelly that I had and even though I knew I had to give it up, it was really fucking painful. I couldn't bring myself to face Bella and Emmett after they arranged everything. I got what I needed and left, not looking back. Bella and Emmett boarded it up and that was that. Maybe one day I'll get it back but right now, I just couldn't. It felt like the last, and best, part of me I had left died in that crash, which the pieces that Shelly helped to put back together.

I raised a hand, fluttering my fingers in the air and watched as the TV remote came towards me from the shelf under the TV across the room. This little ability was something that happened on accident. When we went to Canada, I had gotten cornered by a bear and a rock wall. I knew I could take the bear, of course, but I got distracted by Bella. She had taken off in the opposite direction a few seconds earlier, probably to go after some deer. That trip was the first time we had been apart for any significant distance so as soon as she took off, I felt a pull, like a rope had tied itself around my chest and yanked hard in her direction. I gasped, filtering a step, which must've looked like an act of aggression toward the bear that had suddenly appeared. He roared and charged and I instinctively threw a hand out to protect myself. Only, instead of feeling the impact of teeth against my flesh, a jolt of power shot from my shoulder, down my arm, and out my hand, slamming into the bear and throwing him backwards into a tree. The tree shook so hard, a few branches broke off and felt on top of the bear. I was so shocked, I stood frozen to the ground as the bear got his bearings and took off a few seconds later. Emmett came rushing to me a minute later, asking after the noise. I just shrugged, staring down at my hand, wondering what the fuck happened. For weeks after that, he pestered me about what happened but I was too scared to say anything. While I knew Emmett didn't hate me, I also knew he didn't like me. Why he didn't, I didn't have a clue either. This would only add to fuel to his fire. He didn't really give me a hard time, which he knew he could just by being obnoxiously loud in his thoughts, but I didn't want to test his patience. I knew he was only doing it for Bella's sake.

Everything was on fucking eggshells and I knew it was my fault. I just didn't know why.

Either way, I hadn't told either one of them I could move things with my mind. It started with small things, remotes, shoes, clothes. Now I can move a chair or table across the room. Anything bigger and I overexerted myself. The bear was an exception because I was scared and distracted. It shouldn't have surprised me though. I'll have to practice more. After that first hunt with Bella, when she touched my face, I knew something had changed. I don't know what she did or how but she saw something and I couldn't tell if she was scared or happy about that something. We hadn't spoken of that moment and I was too much of a chickenshit to approach her about it. It was all so overwhelming. It was just easier to avoid it for the time being.

Turning the TV to some mindless tv show for background noise, I focused back on my laptop. I was researching things about vampires and supernatural abilities. Logically, I knew that the internet wasn't a good place to find out about this shit but since I wasn't ready to face Bella just yet, I had to find what I wanted somewhere else. I rubbed my chest absently as I felt the pull stretch and twist a little. Bella had been working later than usual with the start of the new semester at the technical college and that meant we were apart for longer periods. I don't know if she felt this insane pull or not but it ached and became worse the longer and farther she was away. I wanted to find out anything I could about this pull and what it could mean.

A few hours later, my search was proving fruitless and frustrating and I could hear Emmett's monster of a truck coming down the driveway. He'd spend some time working in the garage. He liked to tinker with cars and woodworking projects. I considered actually going to him and telling him what was going on but he still scared the shit out of me. His size and strength was rather intimidating. I could hear his thoughts but he'd gotten pretty good at speaking softly and masking them. I could ignore it as a soft hum in the background, especially if I was listening to music or had the TV on. Another hour or two of searching and it was proving futile so I tossed the laptop to the other side of the bed and focused on the TV again.

I was interrupted by the sound of a vehicle coming down our driveway. I frowned because Bella's car didn't sound like that. This was bigger, heavier, and after a few seconds, five new thought trains assaulted my brain. I groaned at the onslaught. I dropped to the floor, hands clenching and pulling at my hair. I nearly screamed, they were so fucking loud. Why did everyone have to think so damn loud all the time? Four women and one man. Fuck! So much noise.

Emmett came rushing into my room a few seconds later.

"Dude, they're friendlies. You have to calm down and sift through the noise. I know it's a lot but you can control it." We had tested the amount of noise I could handle, distance, strength, level. It varied depending on the noise but sometimes I could block out some of it if I focused hard enough. Like I said, Emmett didn't make my life hard and sometimes helped, if only for Bella's sake.

I nodded at him and decided to focus on the tenor of his thoughts since he was the closest and quietest. He was singing a random rock song which made me chuckle but did actually help. A few minutes and I was able to calm down which was good because a knock sounded at the door.

"You good?" Emmett asked.

I looked up at him and nodded, sitting cross legged on the floor.

"Come down when you're ready." He patted my back and left my room.

I took some deep unneeded breaths and continued to focus on on Emmett's thoughts. Eventually, I could ignore the others and they become a buzzing hum in the back of my head. I heard Em open the front door and voices overlapping in greetings. I steeled myself and headed towards the stairs. Not only would this be the first time I was around other people, but also other vampires. I had no idea of the appropriate etiquette or anything. What do I do? Shit, I wished I had asked Emmett before he went downstairs.

Oh, hell, here it goes.

"It's been so long, Emmett. How have you been?" A deep voice, sounding slightly Spanish, spoke.

A slap of skin made me think the two either clasped hands or did the man hug.

"Hey, Eleazar. I'm good."

"Emmett, come, let me see you." A feminine voice spoke up then.

"Carmen, beautiful as always. You get younger every time I see you." I could hear the grin in his voice.

"Flattery is always welcome." Carmen chuckled.

I had made it to the top of the stairs and descended them slowly. Em was surrounded by four women and one man. Three of the women were tall, blonde, and unnervingly beautiful. Where all vampire women so inhumanely beautiful it made your eyes hurt? The fourth woman was shorter, darker skin, with long black hair and a kind smile. The man, Eleazar, was about my height with black hair and a similar complexion as Carmen. He stared at me as I came into view, rather rudely, might I add. They were all impeccably dressed. I felt almost poor dressed in jeans and a plaid button-up.

"Oh hey, guys, this is Edward. Bella found him nearly six months ago. Edward, this is Eleazar, Carmen, Kate, Irina, and Tanya."

_Wow, he is handsome._

_Oh, I know that look. She's gonna make a go at him._

_I really hope Alice was right about this._

_I see what she meant now._

_Oh my god. I've never seen anything like him before._

This last thought was from Eleazar who's stare was boring right through me. I tuned out the rest and focused on him but it seemed almost as soon as I did that he hid his thoughts and began speaking in another language.

"How did you know to do that?" Was the first thing out of my mouth to Eleazar.

Eleazar laughed softly. "There are many things I know."

I frowned. "What the hell does that mean?"

Emmett moved toward me, shaking his head. "Stop it, they are friends, you don't know-"

"You're right. I don't know, so tell me." I challenged.

Emmett's mouth clamped shut. While I hadn't talked much over these last few months, I knew he and Bella had been keeping something big from me. Figures that when I put him on the spot, he wouldn't cough anything up. I glared, feeling anger and frustration building me.

"I think it's best if we take this to the living room. There's much we need to discuss." Eleazar motioned to the next room, easily diffusing the situation.

"Where is Bella?" Carmen asked as we headed that way.

Everyone took seats around the room. I was too agitated so I took to holding up the window wall towards the back of the room.

"She'll be here soon. She's at work." Emmett explained. "Why don't you start with why you're here? How did you find us anyways?"

I was interested in the answer to that question, too. Bella had explained when I first woke up that they had only been in town for a few months before she found me. No one knew where we lived and she and Emmett didn't keep in close contact with others. I felt like I was missing something but didn't bother to ask. Plus, I had my own shit to deal with.

"While we haven't seen you in over 20 years, we do have our ways of keeping track of our friends." Eleazar provided.

"Still doesn't explain why you're here or how you knew to block your thoughts." I grunted.

Emmett sent a disapproving look my way but then glanced toward Eleazar when he realized something.

"You know he can read minds? How?"

"Oh he can do so much more than that. But I guess Bella never told you then." Eleazar shook his head.

"Never told me what?"

"She's here." I said, feel the pull loosen around my chest. She was close and I was grateful because the pain was starting to get distracting. She was particularly late today.

Everyone looked at me and stared.

"I can't hear a thing...wait, here she comes. How the fuck could you know that? I thought you couldn't hear her." Emmett frowned.

I shrugged. I still wasn't ready touch that topic with a ten foot pole.

"We'll get to that, too." My head whipped around to Eleazar. How much could he really know after just one look at me? Why the hell was he here?

Bella had parked the car and was coming through the door. The sight of her beauty and the absence of the painful pull was such a relief that my body actually sagged a little. I felt like I could breathe again.

"Eleazar, Carmen, guys? What are you doing here?" She came in the room, her expression both surprised and apprehensive.

They both rose as she came toward them. They hugged and then she turned to greet the others.

"We were just getting to that. You might want to have a seat." Carmen said.

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**How we doin'? Yes, I know. I'll get the next chappie up ASAP. Find me on fb Reader4Lyfe. **


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